Hidden Agendas: Community

Certainty.
Control.
Individualism.
Independence.
Polarity.
Popularity.

These words generally capture the essence of our current American culture. They work together to give definition for what Americans desire, value, and live out most. 

Curiosity.
Surrender.
Unity.
Dependence.
Like-mindedness.
Love.

These words characterize God’s Kingdom. They work together to describe a community that pursues the best for the whole and for their King.

What’s wild to me is how much of the first list has seeped into the second.* 

I’ve witnessed in myself the pull between the carnal need for my independence and the desire for dependence on God. My whole life I’ve had parallel messages poured into my brain – “you can do it,” “look out for number one,” “you don’t need anyone else cuz you’ve got this” AND “in Christ all things are possible,” “love one another,” “be one with each other – the body of Christ.” 

As a result, I’m in the process of unlearning a few things – like thinking my faith is a private thing. Sure, it’s a personal walk with Christ, but it was never intended to be private. Just me and Jesus and no one else? Nope.

I’ve witnessed first hand how the desire for control and certainty – all the ‘either-or’ ways of thinking and acting – have permeated the American Church. The resulting divisions are heart-breaking and not at all what Paul hoped for when he called on the Philippians to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” (2:2). 

And, I’ve marveled at Jesus’ ability to move through the world holding the paradox of ‘both-and’ at the same time. He showed us how to hold onto grace and truth in all of His dealings with broken people and systems. But He never intended it to be a solo act. 

Friends, as believers in a world that is wounded and floundering, our strong witness is needed as much as ever. But we cannot build this kingdom individually. It takes comm-unity. Together, we can do all that Jesus said we could. It’s why He came. And suffered. And died. 

It’s why He prayed His deepest desire – that all “who will believe in me” would “be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you” … “so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20-21). 

Unity Versus Uniformity

In the 80s we had no cell phones or email, so after the last practice before a game, our cheer squad would repeat, out loud, all the pieces of the uniform we needed next – skirt, top, socks, shoes, hair ribbon. It was the absolute worst to be the one who didn’t match the group. As a team, we wanted uniformity. Everybody the same.

However, Paul is not out building teams of uniformity. He’s not asking the churches of The Way to look, dress, and talk alike. But he is asking for unity. And it starts with unity in Christ (Philippians 2:1). More specifically, Paul understands that Jesus’ prayer for us to “be one” takes its essence from the Holy Trinity (John 17:21).¹ As such, our very model of community finds its origination in our Triune God, who are One while also uniquely holding their own qualities and purposes (Genesis 1:1-3,26; John 1:1-4; Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Corinthians 13:14). In this way of complementary existence, they achieve perfect unity.¹ 

Like them, as the Church, we’re meant to live in unity, “standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith” (Philippians 1:27 NLT). Eugene Peterson comes right out and says, “Stand united, singular in vision” (1:27 MSG). Another translation makes it clearer that the only way such unity happens is with spiritual help as we “stand firm in the one Spirit” (1:27 NIV). And Paul emphasizes this truth again a few verses later, reminding us we’re meant to have a “common sharing in the Spirit” (2:1).

Paul weaves the theme of unity throughout his letters because he knows its utter importance. Yet in his call to be of one mind and one spirit (Philippians 2:2), he never says that every Christian must think alike. In fact, he expects us to have our own thoughts, as seen when “Paul speaks positively of both Christians who eat for God’s glory and Christians who abstain from eating for God’s glory (Romans 14:5–6).”¹ 

Unity is togetherness. It’s keeping Jesus the main thing. It’s fighting to stick together – even when we don’t agree. Unity is oneness, bonded hearts and spirits by the Spirit, in love, and with joy (John 17:23). In other words, our socks don’t have to match.

One Person Versus One Body

Our cheer team practiced long hours to move as one unit, making sure our arms aligned with each other and our legs stepped in the same rhythms. But when we built the pyramids we were so proud of, we felt the absolute necessity of that oneness. ‘Bases’ and ‘flyers’ had their roles, and if one foot was out of place, we all tumbled. I wasn’t strong enough to be a ‘base’, so I had to embrace my job as a ‘flyer’ and be willing to scale human walls and get thrown in the air. So much trust!

And those ‘bases’ held strong, enduring shoes digging in their skin and extra weight on their bodies. But, if they had longed for the ‘flyer’s’ job, refusing to do what they’d been asked, then the team would have suffered. Pyramids would have been impossible.

This real life experience is a simplistic version of what Paul describes as the Church living as “one body” (1 Corinthians 12:12). In an attempt to help believers grasp what it looks like to live in unity, Paul uses the metaphor of the human body – how each body is a ‘whole’ made up of many parts. In its wholeness, each body has eyes and ears, arms and legs, hearts and livers. Each part has a function, and as they do their jobs, the body works well as one. 

This is the picture we take with us into the Church – “we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit” (v.13). To put one part of the Body of Christ above another is to break the whole. To dismiss one part of the Body of Christ is to cause disruption and division. 

Like the Philippians, we live in a world where living as ‘one’ is an unnatural way of doing life. Accepting someone’s preferences as equal to our own does not feel natural. And applauding differences in a way that elevates the whole can be uncomfortable.

Church, what we’re being called to as we bring the Kingdom of God to earth is beyond natural. It feels awkward, even impossible. But when we focus on Jesus, trust in the Father, and allow the Spirit to move in us and among us, all things become possible (Matthew 19:26). Even unity.

Four Parts of One Whole

Paul describes this unity with four specific images: like-minded, same love, one in spirit, of one mind (Philippians 2:2). To be like-minded is to think alike – not like robots without a will or brain, but with the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16).² 

Paul utilizes ‘like-minded’ and ‘having one mind’ as heralds to the Church – to live intentionally as people who renew our minds continuously. Because if we don’t, our minds conform with the world (Romans 12:2). 

Renewal looks like aligning our thoughts with Christ’s.³ It also looks like recovery. In the ‘fall’ we literally lost our minds – well, we lost the mind of Christ we once had – so we must work to recover it in ourselves. But we can’t do it on our own: 

“The Christian life is about recovering the image of God in our everyday lives. This process takes the Word of God, the Spirit of God, and the People of God. It will not happen in isolation as a fruit of our cloistered quiet times.”  

JD Walt²

Isn’t it just the irony of the Kingdom – to have unity requires us to work together. 

We also achieve unity with each other ‘through the Spirit’ – in our spirits. Our inner selves can find connection with one another as our spirits actually unite, becoming ‘one in spirit’ because we each have The Spirit in us (1 Corinthians 12:13). 

But, the key ingredient to holy unity is love: “Love is the glue that holds God’s people together, and spiritual unity is the byproduct of believers within the church body who love each other.”¹ Paul says it plainly in 1 Corinthians 13 – love is the greatest of all gifts. It’s why Jesus came to earth. It’s why God allowed His Son to endure the cross. It’s what we’re called to be and do – with each other and for the world.

Thank goodness such love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8) – because each of us carries a lifetime of experiences, wounds, and assumptions into the Church. We bring our agendas. And they so often conflict with Kingdom agendas. Which is why we need Christ’s love! It’ll do a transforming work in us, individually and corporately. 

That’s why Paul exhorts us to have the same mindset as Christ (Philippians 2:5). He knows from personal experience that the transformation we need is actually essential. Our call to be the Church goes beyond simply doing what Jesus did; it requires us to have “the same heart, mind, and intention.”³ 

Friends, it’s time to re-imagine who we are in Christ. It’s time to center ourselves in Him so that our relationships with each other are soaked and saturated in His love. Community in God’s Kingdom looks like unity – and like nothing in the world – because it’s “founded in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.”⁴ 

Church, we’re meant to be “a group of people who are mysteriously caught up in and illumined by the interrelationships of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,”⁴ united in love and spirit. Abandoning our agendas for those of Christ’s Kingdom opens us up for Spirit-filled living so that, ultimately, “our belonging to Jesus shapes and transforms our relationships and way of being in the world.”³ It’s backwards. It’s upside-down. Yet, this Trinity-unity way of doing this Christian life in community is the way God intended it all along.

Father God, we admit that your relationship with your Son and Spirit mystifies us. In our hearts, we understand that You are Three-In-One. But our minds fail to fully fathom this seeming impossibility. At the same time, we marvel at it. Your Triune relationship models for us unity as one body. Thank You for making us in your image and for inviting us to participate in your Kingdom together, as your Church. Lord Jesus, your example of living in the world without conforming to it helps us see what our lives can look like. We desire to renew our minds by soaking ourselves in your presence and your Word. We desire to break out of our independent, divisive ways and to become ‘one’ with You and with each other, and we acknowledge our need of your Spirit in order to transform and to function as One Body. Holy Spirit, we need You. Like Paul, we see the absolute necessity of unity in the Church, so we ask for your help to unite us. Bind our hearts and minds together in Jesus’ name and by your power so that our relationships with one another strengthen with bonds of holy love. We confess we struggle to lay down our will for God’s way, but we know that in Christ everything is possible – so we choose faith. We choose to live like the actual Body of Christ, living in Trinity-unity and doing our part to bring the Kingdom of God to earth today. In Jesus’ name, amen.
(inspired by 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Genesis 1:26; John 17:11,14-15,20-21; Romans 12:2; Philippians 2:2; Colossians 3:14; Matthew 19:26; Luke 17:21)

*I’ve been awakening to the reality of how much our American culture has been shaping our Christian values and beliefs. Maybe I’m tardy to the party in recognizing this, but I don’t think so. I think most of us have done little analysis as to why we believe what we do or why we so often think we’re failures because of the way we feel. Amanda Held Opelt, in her book Holy Unhappiness, is the first person I’ve read who has put words to a lot of my own feelings. (For example, the confusion I experience when I feel disappointment or fear or shame or pain when I’ve been trying so hard to do everything ‘right’.) The entire book is eye-opening and freeing, but it’s her introduction that I end up rereading regularly. In fifteen pages she summarily describes her own experiences as an Evangelical American woman and the way American values have shaped her growing up years and faith. Here’s one quote to give you an idea of what she’s onto:

“We [Americans] have our own venerated and time-tested formula: Work hard, make good choices, believe in yourself, and then your dreams will come true. This commitment to personal agency is the pioneering spirit of the frontier. Americans are always moving toward new horizons, pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps through rugged self-reliance. …The theology of abundance gained such a foothold within the American religious landscape because it echoes the ideals our nation has cherished since its founding.” (p.18)

All of this fascinates me, convicts me, and challenges me to become more aware of what values and beliefs I have – and why.

Resources: I love sharing with you the books, podcasts, articles, and anything else that has inspired, encouraged, or taught me. These are humble offerings with no expectations.

• 1 – This article is most helpful in unpacking these verses in Philippians 2.
• 2 – Wake Up Call, JD Walt, 8/29/17
• 3 – Wake Up Call, Anna Grace Legband, 2/9/24
• 4 – Wake Up Call, JD Walt, 8/16/17
• After I wrote this post, Dan Wilt published his Wake Up Call message on May 15th, and it is a great companion piece to this. It’s almost like God planned it 😉
• Though I didn’t quote them in this post, these books have greatly influenced my thoughts and faith journey in recent months — and it shows in today’s post:
  • Jen Pollock Michel’s Surprised by Paradox^
  • Christy Nockel’s The Life You Long For^
  • Amanda Held Opelt’s Holy Unhappiness^
• I’ve added a song to our current playlist, “Hidden Agendas,” Somehow, I’d neglected having a song that reflects today’s theme of Christian community. I found that For King and Country recorded a version of “We Are One in the Spirit” — and it’s sooooo good! May these words move us toward Christ, into deeper union with one another, and into the world with an abundance of love!
• In this week’s”Teacup Video” I will talk a little more about the idea of our faith in Christ not being a private thing — because faith was always meant to be lived out in community. ‘Doing things alone’ and ‘in our own strength’ are American ideas… 😉 You can find all the videos on my Facebook Author Page and Instagram — and…my YouTube ‘channel’!
• In the first week of each month, I release a new edition of my newsletter, The Abiding Life. It’s a less public space to process what I, what we are learning on this journey with Christ. You can subscribe here.

Rhythms: As my newsletter’s title infers, we seek to develop an abiding life in this space — a place where we can get informed but also be transformed as we learn to abide in God’s presence throughout our days. I like to think that developing rhythms is one way to aid us in our desire to become more Christlike. In this series, we’re putting into practice the rhythm of repentance.

When we consider soul-searching questions, such as “What if the community of the church, which is the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, was a place where the love for one another was so palpable nothing was impossible for them?”⁴ we are meant to think bigger — and beyond our four walls.

If we’ve been considering repentance on the individual level up to now, it’s time to start naming where we’re missing the mark corporately. Where have ‘we’ failed to love well? In what ways do ‘we’ contribute to division?

• This week, let’s repent together, as the Body of Christ. Let’s confess how we’ve allowed our personal and corporate ‘hidden agendas’ to infiltrate our beliefs and actions as the Church. Here’s a prayer inspired by John Wesley and his Methodist movement if you’d like to pray along:
  
  Merciful God,
  we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart.
  We have failed to be an obedient church.
  We have not done your will,
  we have broken your law,
  we have rebelled against your love,
  we have not loved our neighbors,
  and we have not heard the cry of the needy.
  Forgive us, we pray.
  Free us for joyful obedience,
  through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
• And while it’s not a spiritual practice or rhythm, I invite you to share this site. It’s my most sincere hope that what we explore here together will encourage others to step more fully and deeply in their walks with Christ.

Featured Photo by Courtney Cook on Unsplash. “All the Bits and Pieces” photo by Sahand Babali on Unsplash.